Islamabad: Taliban has the capacity to provide security to the Chinese projects, said Amb. Javed at a roundtable conference organized by the Institute of Regional Studies on ‘China’s future role in Afghanistan’. Foreign investments, however, would only be possible when the Taliban was able to create a conducive environment, and for that, the Taliban would certainly strive, he opined. He was of the view that Pakistan would be greatly benefitted from the stability in Afghanistan as it could resolve security dilemmas that Pakistan was facing for decades.
Amb. Javed was quite hopeful that the Taliban would live up to Chinese expectations. Since the Afghan Taliban was looking for China’s bigger role in peace and the development of Afghanistan, they would do their best to ensure their soil was not used against terrorism, he maintained.
While highlighting the historical ties between Afghanistan and China, Amb. Javed stressed that Afghanistan was not new to China as it had been under China’s sway during Tang Dynasty in 618 AD. Only after the battle of Talas against the Abbasid in 751, China lost its control, he added.
Amb. Javed was of the view that China’s olive branch to Taliban was based on Beijing’s farsighted approach that the Taliban could play an effective role in reviving the Silk Road. Since the Taliban and China had some kinds of similarities in their governance approach, both could develop mutually beneficial relationships, in the long run, he opined. Historical relationships between the people of Afghanistan and southern Xingjian would be an added advantage in promoting peace in the bordering region, he said.
Afghanistan has been central to the US’s calculations to destabilize China, said Amb. Javed added that the US through their NGOs network sowed the seeds of hatred against the Communist Party of China in Xingjian. The US’ exit had provided an opportunity for both China and Afghanistan to mend their ties, he said.
Integration of Afghanistan into the BRI and the CPEC remained China’s core interest in Afghanistan said Amb. Javed, adding that China was preparing its medium and small enterprises to invest in the mining sector. In the coming years, bilateral trade between the two countries was anticipated to be grown exponentially, said Amb. Javed, However, the security of Chinese workers in Afghanistan would be a concern that Taliban needed to be ensured, he added. He hoped that the Taliban could provide better security to Chinese personnel. He also hoped that the Taliban would distance themselves from all terrorist organizations and play an effective role to create an enabling environment for cooperation.
